Anna Karenina - Part 7

Levin, looking at the tiny, pitiful creature, made strenuous

efforts to discover in his heart some traces of fatherly feeling

for it. He felt nothing towards it but disgust. But when it was

undressed and he caught a glimpse of wee, wee, little hands,

little feet, saffron-colored, with little toes, too, and

positively with a little big toe different from the rest, and

when he saw Lizaveta Petrovna closing the wide-open little hands,

as though they were soft springs, and putting them into linen

garments, such pity for the little creature came upon him, and

such terror that she would hurt it, that he held her hand back.

Lizaveta Petrovna laughed.

"Don't be frightened, don't be frightened!"

When the baby had been put to rights and transformed into a firm

doll, Lizaveta Petrovna dandled it as though proud of her

handiwork, and stood a little away so that Levin might see his

son in all his glory.

Kitty looked sideways in the same direction, never taking her

eyes off the baby. "Give him to me! give him to me!" she said,

and even made as though she would sit up.

"What are you thinking of, Katerina Alexandrovna, you mustn't

move like that! Wait a minute. I'll give him to you. Here

we're showing papa what a fine fellow we are!"

And Lizaveta Petrovna, with one hand supporting the wobbling

head, lifted up on the other arm the strange, limp, red creature,

whose head was lost in its swaddling clothes. But it had a nose,

too, and slanting eyes and smacking lips.

"A splendid baby!" said Lizaveta Petrovna.

Levin sighed with mortification. This splendid baby excited in

him no feeling but disgust and compassion. It was not at all the

feeling he had looked forward to.

He turned away while Lizaveta Petrovna put the baby to the

unaccustomed breast.

Suddenly laughter made him look round. The baby had taken the

breast.

"Come, that's enough, that's enough!" said Lizaveta Petrovna, but

Kitty would not let the baby go. He fell asleep in her arms.

"Look, now," said Kitty, turning the baby so that he could see

it. The aged-looking little face suddenly puckered up still more

and the baby sneezed.

Smiling, hardly able to restrain his tears, Levin kissed his wife

and went out of the dark room. What he felt towards this little

creature was utterly unlike what he had expected. There was

nothing cheerful and joyous in the feeling; on the contrary, it

was a new torture of apprehension. It was the consciousness of a

new sphere of liability to pain. And this sense was so painful

at first, the apprehension lest this helpless creature should

suffer was so intense, that it prevented him from noticing the

strange thrill of senseless joy and even pride that he had felt

when the baby sneezed.